I had something similar happen to my Wrangler. The inner bearings failed, which allowed some of the components to shift, which led to broken teeth and all kinds of other s***. Anyway, I replaced everything. It being a Jeep parts were cheap and readily available online. My brother-in-law is a nut about Jeeps so he knew a guy that was willing to do the work for me. Pulled the dif, loaded it in the truck, loaded up all the parts, took it to his house. A couple of weeks later picked it up, stuck it back in the Jeep, all was well.
If you have another set of wheels take the time and do it right, that's my opinion. Especially since you say you're keeping the rig. Why take the chance on having the F with it again later down the road.
If you have another set of wheels take the time and do it right, that's my opinion. Especially since you say you're keeping the rig. Why take the chance on having the F with it again later down the road.